For the past five-hundred million years greenhouse gases have fluctuated between 260 and 280 parts per million (ppm). Today, however, they are nearing 400ppm CO2, roughly 30 percent higher than previous peaks in volume during interglacial periods.

This has led even the World Bank to recently warn that if present trends continue temperatures could rise as much as 6-degress Celsius before the turn of the century, much higher than the generally accepted “safe zone” of 2-degress.

From food and water shortages, the destruction of fertile lands, shifts in weather patterns, species extinction and dramatically accelerated glacier melting, environmental crises are intersecting in myriad non-linear and cascading ways.

This special issue of Alternate Routes is seeking papers that address but are not limited to:

In what ways have issues related to environmental degradation taken a backseat to a narrow focus on the “economy” in light of the Great Recession?

On what facts do climate change denialists base their claims? How does capitalism limit the space available for substantive environmental reforms?

And what are the social, political, cultural and economic consequences of environmental inaction?